This invention relates to a dental handpiece wherein the input drive speed is substantially reduced at the output thereof, and more particularly to such a dental handpiece using plural stages of planetary gears for reducing the output speed.
Dental handpieces providing slow speed, high torque, rotary output are used in various dental applications, such as in endodontic applications. When performing endodontic procedures, such as root canal therapy, various files or tapers (tapered files) providing a reaming action are installed on the dental handpiece, and are driven at a slow rotary speed with high torque. The presently available handpieces for providing such a slow speed, high torque rotary output are generally expensive and relatively complicated in design.
The object of the present invention is to provide a dental handpiece having a slow speed, high torque rotary output, which handpiece is simplified in design and construction, which is easily assembled, which can be driven by conventional dental drive sources, and which is therefore lower in cost.